Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Stock Price

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley cut Duke Energy’s price target from $141 to $132, though that still implies about 6.4% upside from the stock’s current price.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Duke Energy has a Moderate Buy consensus rating, with nine Buy ratings and nine Hold ratings, and a consensus target price of $139.07.
• Duke Energy recently beat earnings and revenue estimates, reporting EPS of $1.93 versus $1.87 expected and revenue of $9.18 billion versus $8.44 billion expected, while insiders have also been selling shares.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $141.00 to $132.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. Morgan Stanley's price target would indicate a potential upside of 6.42% from the company's current price.

DUK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Capitol Sec Mgt cut Duke Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Duke Energy from $139.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Duke Energy from $141.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $139.07.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $124.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $96.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.99 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $128.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.01. Duke Energy has a fifty-two week low of $113.39 and a fifty-two week high of $134.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.06. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.49% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The company had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. Duke Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy will post 6.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 3,500 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.15, for a total value of $438,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 21,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,680,087.25. The trade was a 14.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Regis T. Repko sold 962 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.86, for a total value of $123,001.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 3,896 shares in the company, valued at approximately $498,142.56. This represents a 19.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 24,462 shares of company stock valued at $3,048,426 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 5,254.4% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,735,816 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $358,227,000 after acquiring an additional 2,684,721 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,258,757 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,172,709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957,592 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in Duke Energy by 56.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,662,460 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $312,067,000 after purchasing an additional 965,808 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,236,893 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $965,446,000 after purchasing an additional 954,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Milford Funds Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $97,905,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

About Duke Energy

Duke Energy Corporation is a U.S.-based electric power holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company's core business is the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Duke Energy operates a mix of regulated electric utilities and non-regulated energy businesses, providing essential energy infrastructure and services across multiple states.

Its operating activities include owning and operating generation assets across a portfolio that encompasses nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and an expanding array of renewable resources, as well as battery storage and grid modernization projects.

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